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Red Rooster reopening salvages 100 jobs

Nick Hall

Less than one week after a franchisee collapse put more than 100 jobs in jeopardy, Red Rooster workers are back in business. The full-scale Red Rooster reopening sees six of the seven closed Sunshine Coast restaurants return to trading thanks to a combined effort from head office and the administrator.

Early last week, Inside Franchise Business reported that operator Sunstate Foods Pty Ltd had gone into voluntary administration, citing economic and operational issues as contributing factors.

The immediate closure of the franchisee’s seven restaurants hit the local Sunshine Coast community hard, with more than 100 local jobs at risk. Clint Ault, Red Rooster CEO said the chain was immediately focused on supporting the impacted workers, highlighting a commitment to ethical operation.

“As soon as we were notified of the closures we commenced working with the administrator and landlords with the aim of re-opening these stores,” Ault said at the time..

“Our intention is that there will be no job losses – our key focus right now is to re-open and secure the ongoing employment of affected employees as quickly as possible.”

In an announcement posted on Monday, the franchise chain revealed it had delivered on its promise.

Red Rooster reopening

Six of the seven closed restaurants resumed trading on Saturday, just four days after the closure reports first broke. According to chain, the Red Rooster reopening strategy is set to stabilise jobs for all affected workers, with no impact on other outlets.

“In four days, Red Rooster successfully negotiated with the administrator and multiple landlords to reopen six of the seven stores in the Sunshine Coast area, as well as offer re-employment with entitlements to all restaurant team members that were affected by the sudden closure,” Red Rooster told Inside Franchise Business.

“It was a sole franchise partner that had owned the seven Red Rooster restaurants that were placed into voluntary administration on Tuesday 15 October, leaving over 100 people immediate out of work within the Sunshine area.”

While the Red Rooster reopening marks a successful community-focused initiative, one store does remain closed. The chain revealed that is was still in discussions that have the outlet back up and trading, however reiterated that no workers from this restaurant would suffer as a result.

“Red Rooster continues to work with the administrators and the Landlord at Sunshine Plaza to re-open, team members of this restaurant have been be offered shifts at the other six restaurants in the interim to ensure work continuity for everyone,” the chain said.

The Red Rooster reopening sees restaurants at Buderim, Currimundi, Noosa, Moreton Bay and Deception Bay now operational.